“What’s so funny?”
“Just thinking—there was something on the news about the hospital charges for parking going up. How much do you think your parking bill’s going to be?”
Fuck, I’d forgotten all about that. The hospital had introduced parking by the hour rates a few months back, and there’d been protests only last week because they’d raised the rates to a stupid amount.
Looking at the clock, I growled, “Fuck! I’ve been parked there for fourteen hours.”
His deep bellow of laughter made my ears ring, and then he made it worse by doing the math on what the charges were going to be.
Come to find out, he was wrong. It cost me thirty-nine dollars, not the twenty-eight he’d calculated.
However, new day, new me, so I shook off the irritation as we drove home, my thoughts focused once again on Tana and Toby.
Everyone called her by her full name apart from her family, and I loved using the more familiar shortened version. She hadn’t said anything when I’d switched to it a few months ago, so I figured she didn’t have an issue with me doing it.
Somehow I’d get through to her and show her how sorry I am. She was too important to me not to.
As I pulled up in front of her house, I frowned at how dilapidated it looked from the outside.
I knew it was pristine inside because she’d never let it look any other way, but the roof was old, the walls were peeling outside, and the porch looked like it was sagging slightly. I didn’t usually have to come here to get him, so it’d been a while since I’d seen it up close and I didn’t like how it looked.
Making a mental note to get it looked over, I walked up to her door, testing the floorboards by pressing down on them first. Before I could knock on the door, her grandfather, Jerry, pulled open it.
“Wondered when you’d get here.” Looking behind me, he frowned. “Thought we were taking you to get your vehicle from the hospital?”
“One of the guys took me. I didn’t want to take up your time with Tana or have her drive after she’s been up most of the night helping me out.” That wasn’t the whole truth, but it was as much as I was willing to give the man.
“Right.”
From the disappointment and pout, I figured he’d been planning to take me and have a word with me on the way. I also didn’t miss the way his eyes flared when I used the shortened version of her name.
Out of respect for him and Tana, I offered, “Unless you want to have a look at my SUV?”
There was nothing interesting about the vehicle, and we both knew it, but it’d give him the opening and opportunity to say what he needed to.
Jerry’s eyes squinted as he watched me for a moment, almost like he was trying to read something, but then he shook his head. “Nah, you’re good. I just didn’t want you to not have your car for longer.”
We both knew this was bullshit, but his expression held some respect now, like me offering up the opportunity to light into me or whatever he wanted to do had cleared something up for him.
Following him inside, I’d only just cleared the door when he shut it behind me.
“Sorry, don’t want the little guy getting out,” he muttered, looking around us.
“Toby won’t get out,” I snorted. “He’s only mobile when he’s holding onto Tana.”
Before he could reply, a large, furry body came running up to me, its torso swaying with the force of its wagging tail. It was cute but judging by the size of its ears and feet, it was going to be huge.
“Nice dog,” I mused. “It’s going to be freaking massive.”
“Those ears are like fuckin’ radars,” he muttered. “And he’s got no control over his body. Every time he runs around, he knocks shit over. I dunno how she’s going to train the thing, but she’s always wanted one, so she’ll have to figure that shit out.”
I’d been watching the puppy dance around as he spoke, but then what he was saying sank in.
“She?” Did he mean his wife, Marie?
“Yeah, Tana.”
Now, as I’d just pointed out, only a few people called Santana that, mainly her close friends and her family, and hearing the name, my stomach sank into my ass.
If this was her dog, that meant a puppy that was bigger than my son was going to be hanging around the place. What if he accidentally knocked Toby over or scratched him? What if he got hungry and bit him? He was only going to get bigger, too, so the danger level would increase the bigger he got.
The familiar anxious feeling hit me as I watched the puppy bouncing up at Jerry.